Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 98, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 4, 2003Cherokee County, Mayes County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 4, 2003, 5:13 PM CDT for Cherokee County, Mayes County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 47 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 4, 2003, 5:13 PM CDT (22:13 UTC)
Expired: May 4, 2003, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Cherokee County, OK, Mayes County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 29 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:16 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 4, 12:35 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 156 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 50 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -362 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 735 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 282 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 474 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WUUS54 KTSA 042213
SVRTUL
OKC021-097-042300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
511 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN CHEROKEE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA   
  MAYES COUNTY IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 511 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG
  A LINE EXTENDING FROM 15 MILES SOUTH OF CHOUTEAU TO 13 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF PEGGS TO 9 MILES SOUTH OF PEGGS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 
  65 MPH. BASEBALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED ON THE EAST SIDE OF 
  WAGONER AT 510 PM.  

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE...PEGGS...
  PRYOR...CHOUTEAU AND LOCUST GROVE.

HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS AND WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH CAN BE 
EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA. STAY INDOORS AND AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL
THE STORM HAS PASSED.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. TORNADOES CAN
DEVELOP SUDDENLY FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AS STORMS APPROACH.

LAT...LON 3609 9544 3609 9521 3591 9527 3602 9493
          3619 9502 3639 9542

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 4, 5:08 PM CDT, 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 5:08 PM CDT, 5 minutes before

MESOSCALE FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OKLAHOMA
508 PM AM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

AT 5 PM...THE DRY LINE STRETCHED FROM EAST OF BARTLESVILLE TO JUST
WEST OF THE TULSA METRO AREA TO NEAR ARDMORE.

DISCRETE...POTENTIALLY TORNADIC...SUPERCELL OVER SOUTHERN NOWATA
COUNTY WILL MOVE INTO AN INCREASINGLY FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT OVER FAR
NERN OK...WITH 0-6 KM BULK SHEAR INCREASING TO 60-65 KTS AND
SURFACE-BASED CAPES RANGING BETWEEN 3000 AND 4000 J/KG.

FAST MOVING (AT LEAST 65 KTS) LEFT MOVING SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
SOUTHERN WAGONER COUNTY WILL BE ENTERING THIS STRONGLY SHEARED/UNSTABLE
ENVIRONMENT AS WELL.

FORECAST ID = 18

.TSA...
AR...NONE.
OK...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, May 4, 1:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-051200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
100 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...
CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR A SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER EVENT
THIS AFTERNOON FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET WILL SHIFT EAST INTO THE SOUTHERN
PLAINS TODAY. AS A RESULT...SURFACE LOW PRESSURE HAS DEVELOPED OVER
NORTHWEST KANSAS AS THE MORNING PROGRESSED.  A WARM FRONT EXTENDING
EASTWARD FROM THE SYSTEM HAS LIFTED TO THE NORTH OF THE AREA...WHILE
A DRYLINE EXTENDS TO THE SOUTH ACROSS WESTERN OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN
TEXAS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THE DRYLINE WILL MOVE EASTWARD TODAY
INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA BY THIS AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED
TO DEVELOP ALONG/JUST AHEAD OF THE DRYLINE BY MID TO LATE
AFTERNOON...AND WILL QUICKLY BECOME SEVERE. STORMS WILL MOVE
EASTWARD INTO NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS BY THE EARLY
EVENING HOURS. WIND FIELDS AT THE SURFACE AND ABOVE THE GROUND ARE
FAVORABLE FOR STORMS TO ROTATE AND WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
TORNADOES AND VERY LARGE HAIL. THE SEVERE THREAT WILL BEGIN TO
DIMINISH LATER THIS EVENING AS THE SURFACE DRYLINE AND STORMS SHIFT
EAST OF THE REGION. THIS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...PLEASE
SEE THE LATEST /OKCPNSTUL/ TO REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY
RULES.

WARNING PROBABILITIES FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES CAN BE
FOUND IN THE OUTLOOK SECTION AT: WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA. GIVEN
PROBABILITIES REPRESENT THE POTENTIAL FOR A WARNING TO BE ISSUED AT
YOUR LOCATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY
QUIET WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO PREVAIL MONDAY BEFORE THE NEXT CHANCE
OF THUNDERSTORMS RETURNS ON TUESDAY.  UNSETTLED WEATHER IS THEN
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK WITH AT LEAST
A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY THROUGH NEXT SATURDAY.

.SPOTTER / EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS
EVENING.

ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT...
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 4, 12:41 PM CDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before

ARZ001>002-010>011-019>020-029-OKZ054>076-050000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1241 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TORNADO WATCH #232 UNTIL 700
PM CDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS:

IN ARKANSAS THIS WATCH INCLUDES 7 COUNTIES...
IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS:

BENTON                CARROLL               CRAWFORD
MADISON               WASHINGTON

IN WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS:

FRANKLIN              SEBASTIAN

IN OKLAHOMA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 23 COUNTIES...
IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA:

CHEROKEE              MUSKOGEE              OKFUSKEE
SEQUOYAH

IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA:

ADAIR                 CRAIG                 CREEK
DELAWARE              MAYES                 NOWATA
OKMULGEE              OSAGE                 OTTAWA
PAWNEE                ROGERS                TULSA
WAGONER               WASHINGTON

IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA:

HASKELL               LATIMER               LE FLORE
MCINTOSH              PITTSBURG

THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF BARTLESVILLE...BENTONVILLE...
BERRYVILLE...BRISTOW...BROKEN ARROW...CEDARVILLE...CLAREMORE...
EUFAULA...EUREKA SPRINGS...FAYETTEVILLE...FORT SMITH...HUNTSVILLE...
JAY...MCALESTER...MIAMI...MOUNTAINBURG...MUSKOGEE...NATURAL DAM...
NOWATA...OKEMAH...OKMULGEE...OZARK...PAWHUSKA...PAWNEE...POTEAU...
PRYOR...ROGERS...SALLISAW...SAND SPRINGS...SILOAM SPRINGS...
SPRINGDALE...STIGLER...STILWELL...TAHLEQUAH...TULSA...VAN BUREN...
VINITA...WAGONER AND WILBURTON.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT. TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP SUDDENLY FROM
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER
CONDITIONS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR
THE LATEST ON THIS SEVERE WEATHER EVENT. ADDITIONAL WEATHER
INFORMATION...INCLUDING RELATED GRAPHICS CAN BE FOUND AT:
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA.

Special weather statement, May 4, 3:04 PM CDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before

OKZ049-053-050200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
304 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TORNADO WATCH #234 UNTIL 900
PM CDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS:

IN OKLAHOMA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 2 COUNTIES...
IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA:

CHOCTAW               PUSHMATAHA

THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ANTLERS...CLAYTON AND HUGO.

Local storm report, May 4, 5:02 PM CDT, 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
0502 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0423 PM    COPAN                     OK   1.00 IN HAIL
05/04/03   WASHINGTON

0434 PM    10 NW RAIFORD             OK   1.75 IN HAIL
05/04/03   MCINTOSH

RJS

Local storm report, May 4, 5:08 PM CDT, 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
0508 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0503 PM    10 W MUSKOGEE             OK   1.75 IN HAIL
05/04/03   MUSKOGEE

RJS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 4, 3:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Washington	67 min
May 4, 4:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	McIntosh	66 min
May 4, 4:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Pittsburg	64 min
May 4, 4:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Washington	53 min
May 4, 4:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Okfuskee, Okmulgee	51 min
May 4, 4:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Nowata, Washington	48 min
May 4, 4:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Pittsburg	38 min
May 4, 4:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Craig, Nowata	47 min
May 4, 4:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Muskogee, Wagoner	45 min
May 4, 4:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Nowata	37 min
May 4, 5:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Pittsburg	57 min
May 4, 5:09 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Craig	36 min
May 4, 5:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Delaware	50 min
May 4, 5:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Latimer	65 min
May 4, 5:38 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Craig, Ottawa	37 min
May 4, 5:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	LeFlore	63 min
May 4, 6:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Ottawa	42 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.